Merlino's lawyers said the government's three cooperating witnesses are implicating his client to save their own skins.

The audio didn't reveal a single smoking gun — and showed Merlino's relationship with Rubio was largely based on his own debt, his attorney Edwin Jacobs said. Shortly after Merlino got out of federal prison in 2011, he settled down in South Florida, where he wanted to open a restaurant and stay away from crime, Jacobs said.